DEVASTATED - The skeletal remains of the barn at Pincents Manor Hotel

AN historic 14th Century thatched barn in Calcot was razed to the ground in a devastating fire

yesterday.

Fire crews with water pumps and breathing apparatus battled for hours to put out the blaze and prevent it from destroying the neighbouring

500-year-old Pincents Manor Hotel, which was connected to the barn by a covered walkway.

The fire broke out in the roof area and, although investigators have not completed their report, it is thought it may have been caused by an electrical fault.

Earlier theories that the building might have been struck by lightning have been discounted.

Around 40 firefighters and 10 officers fought the blaze, which started at 4.10am.

Crews from Dee Road Fire Station fought the blazing thatch until it was found that the interior of the building, which was used as the hotel's function room, was already an inferno.

Temporary sub-officer Luke Coleman said: "It was clear there was nothing we could do to save the barn, so we concentrated on making sure the hotel didn't catch fire.

"A JCB bulldozer was brought in to push the remains of the barn away from the hotel building."

Fire crews finally left the scene at around 1.30pm but returned later in the day for further safety checks.

Manager of the £79-a-night hotel, Georgios Karatzemis, dialled 999 after a fire alarm went off in the barn.

Mr Karatzemis and his wife and two children, aged 18 months and five months, evacuated the building along with two other members of staff and seven guests.

He said: "This is a very, very sad day to lose such a beautiful building. It was a most historic building and there is nothing left now."

Firefighters had prevented the blaze damaging the main hotel building and they would be able to continue with business as usual there, he added.

Later in the week he will know whether it will be possible to rebuild the barn.

Mr Karatzemis added: "There is just a terrible black mess there now."

The hotel and golf course in Pincents Lane is owned by Parminder Singh and is a family business.

The grade II listed Cruck barn of thatch and oak beams dated back to the mid-14th Century. Records show that the land on which the barn was built was exchanged in a deal between Edmund Pincent and the Abbot of Reading in 1341.

* This morning staff at The Calcot Hotel at 98 Bath Road revealed they'd had many callers who were confused and thought the fire had been at their hotel. They want to reassure